The Coffee Shop Pt. 04

The sight of Andy sitting in front of me, tied to a chair and gagged was more than enough to push away any thoughts I might have had about paying attention to the two men who had wheeled him into the room. Andy was foremost in my mind. I realized, with a sickening feeling, that help was not likely to arrive anytime in the foreseeable future. I had been counting on Andy to miss me, and to sound the alarm that I was missing. Fat chance of that now. Boy, when things went wrong they really went wrong. "What else could possibly go wrong now?" I asked myself silently, as I struggled to regain my composure.

"I see you know this man," Mr. Black commented with a smirk on his face. "You might be willing to sacrifice your life, but are you so willing to sacrifice his?"

"Christ! I had to go and ask that question, didn't I?" I mentally cursed myself. I did my best to launch a look of utter confusion at Mr. Black, once I had torn my attention away from Andy. "What in the name of little green apples are you talking about?" I shot back at him. "I will admit that I know this man. He's a casual friend of mine, but what has that got to do with it? I wouldn't put it past you to kill an innocent man, but that's not going to get you anywhere with me. I'd rather see this man dead, than know that he would suffer at your hands, if I were to tell you what you want to know." I was taking a huge gamble, and I knew it. Bluffing seemed to be my only hope. My powers were not going to get me out of this mess of trouble. At least they would not be able to scan Andy's mind to learn just how important he was to me. If Andy was immune to my powers, I was willing to bet that he was immune to Mr. Blacks' powers as well.

"Brave words, but futile and worthless. I know all about your relationship with Constable Anderson here. I know how important he is to you. You forget, that I know everything that The Panel knows. What's more, I know everything that you've ever told Mary. It makes me no never mind that you and Constable Anderson are gay. He is but a lever to shift your position." Mr. Black smiled at me as he finished speaking.

It was a truly unpleasant smile. Evil would have been a better word, but I was reluctant to use that word. Evil brought up a host of undesirable possibilities as to just what lengths Mr. Black might be willing to go to. I preferred not to dwell on that. I hoped that there was still some way to get clear of this mess, without telling Mr. Black what he wanted to know. Somehow, I didn't think he'd buy my story that I couldn't explain my techniques to him, since I didn't know exactly how I did what I did, in the first place. How in the blue moons of Mars do you explain instinct?

"I put it to you simply. I am going to count from one to five. When I reach five, Mr. Red is going to kill Constable Anderson, by shooting him through the heart. You have that long to change your mind and agree to tell me what I want to know," Mr. Black growled at me. "His life is in your hands. As soon as you start telling me what I want to know, I'll stop the count. One."

"You've got to be kidding!" I cried out, in disbelief. Andy locked his eyes on mine and shook his head at me violently from side to side. It was a clear 'no'. He was pleading with me to stop this insanity.

"Two." Mr. Black grunted at me.

"I can't tell you what I don't know!" I yelled out at him. I had decided to come clean. I was willing to risk my own life, but not Andy's. I couldn't stomach the thought of being responsible for his death. I loved him too much to risk his life.

"Three." Mr. Black said calmly.

"I don't know how I do what I do. I just do it, I tell you! I can't show you how to do it. I just don't know. Christ almighty! I can't give you something that I don't have!" I screamed at him as I tried to make him understand the truth..

"Four. Time's running out, Mr. Walton," Mr. Black said with all the concern that he would have if he were announcing the current temperature.

"I'm telling you, I don't know how I do it! Why in the name of God won't you believe me?! If you want to have a meeting of our minds I'll prove to you that I'm telling you then truth! Please, in the name of God, don't do this! Andy never did anything to you or to The Panel. He doesn't deserve this!" I howled out at the top of my lungs as I pleaded and begged for Andy's life. I was convinced that Mr. Black would do exactly as he threatened. I could not confirm it, since I could not read his mind, but I sure as hell wasn't about to risk Andy's life!

"Five." Mr. Black called out, his voice like the chimes of doom.

From somewhere behind me and to my left I heard the crack and thunder of a gun being fired. An instant later I saw a small hole appear in the centre of Andy's chest. I wrenched my attention back to Andy's face. Time slowed to a crawl. Andy's eyes went wide with fright and terror. Slowly, those wonderful soft doe brown eyes of his glazed over and the spark of life and love that I had seen in them so many times, slowly faded away. His eyelids dropped down, as he closed his eyes for the final time. He let out a soft sigh as his head slumped down to his chest. It almost looked like he was going to sleep, it seems so peaceful and quiet. There wasn't a trace of pain or shock on his face. (Somewhere in a back corner of my mind, I was thankful for that small grace. Andy had not suffered.) I looked down at Andy's chest. The blood had started to seep slowly out of the small, circle in the centre of Andy's chest. The blood ran down the front of his shirt, in a small trail to the top of his pants. There the blood spread out and formed a small pool as it soaked into the material of his shirt and the waistband of his pants. As I watched, Andy's entire body slowly slumped down in the chair, limp and lifeless. It didn't seem real, somehow. I could not seem to believe it. This just could not be happening. I just did not want to believe the evidence of my eyes.

A slight tugging at my writs interrupted my study of Andy's body. I blinked a few times at the shock of the moment, as I found my hands suddenly free of my restraints. I absently wiped away the tears that threatened to flow out of my eyes. Before I could make sense of my hands being freed up, I discovered that my ankles had been freed of their restraints as well.

"Go and examine your 'friend', please," instructed the cold and sadistic voice of Mr. Black. "Check his pulse, breathing and other vital signs. I want you to know without a doubt that we are not playing games."

Numbly I stood up as I prepared to comply with his instructions. I clung to the faint hope that this was some kind of a trick, and that I was not dealing with such callous monsters as these men appeared to be.

"Don't try anything, though," Mr. Black warned me. "All three of my assistants have their guns trained on you, and while they will not kill you, they are expert marksmen. They can inflict a great deal of plain without harming you seriously."

Dully, I nodded my head in acknowledgment of his words, though they barely registered on my conscious mind. I slowly walked over to where Andy sat slumped in his chair. I ignored the painful pins and needles feeling that coursed through my hands and feet as the blood circulation was restored to my extremities. I bent down and reached out with my hands. I took Andy's left wrist in my right hand, and felt for a pulse. Nothing. I felt the blood drain from my face. I placed my hand under his nose to check for any sign of breathing. Nothing. Suddenly I felt empty. I bent lower, turned my head to the side, and placed my left ear flat against Andy's chest, as close to the bullet hold as I dared. I waited and prayed for a heartbeat, no matter how faint. Nothing. I waited for an entire minute. Nothing. My entire body went weak as I collapsed into a heap next to the chair in which Andy sat. As I sat there on the floor beside Andy, with my hands in my lap and my legs splayed out in front of me, I accepted the bitter truth. Andy was dead. The light of my life, and the love of my life was gone. The man who made my heart sing with joy and love had been taken from me. His life has been snuffed out, as quickly and thoughtlessly as one blows out a candle. I would never hear him call me Texas again. I would never feel him hold me in his strong powerful arms again. I would never be able to hold Andy in my arms and comfort him when he needed it most. In that moment, I felt my heart become an unfeeling cold lump of stone in my chest. It still beat, slowly and evenly. It still pumped my blood. I still breathed. I still lived, but in that moment, the man whom Andrew Anderson had come to love and know so well, that man died too.

"As you can see, we are serious. Deadly serious," said the icy cold voice of Mr. Black.

I slowly turned about, while remaining sitting on the floor. I turned my face up to look at him. I didn't say anything. I didn't feel anything, either. I just looked at him in stony silence. No anger. No fear. No thirst for revenge. Nothing. It was like all my emotions had been drained out of me.

"Now, are you going to answer my questions, or do I have to bring in members of your family to help convince you to cooperate?" He asked me in that same even no nonsense tone of voice of his. He waited a minute or so before he resumed taking. "We'll start with your parents, I think, that is unless you've had a change of heart."

Slowly I climbed to my feet. If I was going to die here and now, I would do it standing on my own two feet, not on my knees or sitting on my ass. "That won't be necessary. I will give you what you want," I answered him calmly, in a dead man's voice. There wasn't a flicker of emotion in my voice. I believed that he would do exactly what he said he would do, if I did not cooperate with him. I didn't want to see any of my family harmed, most especially my parents. I felt trapped and helpless. But only for a moment. I looked up at Mr. Black, and the sudden loss of Andy hit me a second time. The image of my parents tied in chairs seated in front of me, with guns pointed at their heads flashed through my mind. Suddenly my anger ignited. All I could feel was anger. I felt my face get hot as it suddenly became flushed. It was like a fire was burning within me, a fire that became hotter and hotter with each passing moment. In that instant, I didn't care what happened to me. Killing me would be a mercy. I had just lost Andy to these bastards! I would burn in Hell before I'd let them harm my parents! I couldn't give them what they wanted, but I was sure as Hell going to give them something! The fire burned away the feelings of helplessness and fear that I had felt a few moments before. Now there was only rage, blood red, white hot, and getting hotter by the second. My face was burning hot as if I had a fever of some kind, yet my mind was crystal clear and ice cold calm. Only one thought burned in my mind, "Payback." Something inside me seemed to snap. Nothing mattered to me anymore. I didn't care about anyone or anything, least of my life. All that I wanted was to wring my revenge out of Mr. Black's hide, one painful drop at a time. Once again I peered down into the well of my soul. I gazed down deep in to the dark pool of black water that lay there motionless at the bottom of that well. This time, I didn't look away. This time I embraced the darkness. This time I reached down and unchained the monster that lurked just below the surface of that forbidding pool. Power seems to flow through my mind like never before. It was heady and exhilarating, beyond anything I had ever felt before. And it was darker than the heart of Satan. I couldn't have cared less. I embraced it like a long lost lover.

"I'm glad to hear that," Mr. Black said his words dragging my attention back to him. "Now start explaining your techniques to me."

Silently, I launched my attack, but not at Mr. Black. Instead I split my effort into a three pronged attack at his assistants. They were the immediate threat since they all had guns. I wanted to be sure to live long enough to wring every drop of my revenge out of Mr. Black's hide. I pounded away at their shields with sledgehammer blows, as I turned my head to look at Mr. Red. I allowed the corners of my mouth to turn up slightly as I saw him reel backward from the force of my blows and drop to his knees, with his hands clutched at his head as he started to howl in pain. His gun lay beside him forgotten in the agony of my attack. I glanced over to my right just in time to see the other two men fall to their knees as well. I noticed that they too had started to cry out as they dropped their guns and grabbed at their heads. My anger and fury at these men knew no bounds. I pulled forth all my strength, strength that until that moment, I didn't even know I had. I continued to pound away at their shields while lancing out at their shields with my second attack. I would most likely burn out every cell in my brain trying to launch a double attack on three minds at the same time, but I didn't give a shit about that! One by one, starting with Mr. Red, I clamped on one of my sucker tubes. In only a few heart beats I was sucking away at the energy of their shields and flinging that energy back at them in my attack. As I saw their shields start to weaken I kept up the pressure of my attacks. I had never done a simultaneous attack on three minds of unknown strength, but I didn't have the luxury to wonder at my accomplishment. Mr. Black still remained.

I looked over at him. His face was frozen in shock as he looked about at his assistants. Somehow I managed to focus enough of my attention at him to hurl a mental bolt at his shield. It bounced off harmlessly. I wasn't all that surprised. I couldn't spare enough of my attention to really attack his mind right now. I had my mental hands full. The other three men's shields were weakening quickly. I paced the power level of my attacks to be sure that I would not break through their shields too soon and burn out their minds. I did not intend to turn them into mindless idiots, at least not just yet.

I hurled another bolt at Mr. Black's shield. It bounced off. He turned his head and looked at me, surprise still etched on his face. At least I had his attention now. Every few seconds I shot another bolt at his shield to be sure that he would not try to come to the aid of the other men in the room. I swung my head around to my left to see how Mr. Red was doing. I could not help but smile as I saw that not only was he still on his knees, but he had folded over, with his head nearly touching the floor in front of him. His hands were clasped to the sides of his head. He was sobbing as the pain of my unrelenting attack continued to pound away at his shield. There wasn't much left of his shield. I estimated that in about a minute I would have drained it away completely, and his unprotected mind would be open to my mental gaze and my manipulation. I switched my attention to the other two men and examined the conditions of their shields. They were in a similar state. Both would soon be drained completely, but it would take a few more minutes. I was in no hurry. I licked my lips in anticipation.

A sudden bolt of pain rocked my mind, as a very powerful mental bolt impacted on my shield. The pain was momentary. The bolt clung to my shield for only a fraction of a second (an eternity in mental combat) before I managed to increase the power of my shield enough to completely defect the thrust harmlessly away from me. Logic suggested that the thrust had come from Mr. Black, since his was the only mind in the room that I was not attacking. (That's what I got for letting myself be distracted.) A second bolt impacted on my shield, before I had even finished deflecting the first bolt. A third and fourth bolt arrived immediately afterwards. Mr. Black wasn't playing any games. He was launching an all out attack on my mind. He was throwing more and more powerful mental bolts at my mind as fast as he possibility could. Even with the other three men momentarily incapacitated, it was still an uneven and uphill battle. The energy from the other three men would sustain my attack upon their minds, so I didn't have to spare much attention to dealing with them. Mr. Black was another matter entirely.

I deflected each bolt that he shot at me, but it required significant effort on my part. I had stopped shooting my bolts at his mind, since I could not spare enough of my mind to form a strong enough bolt to really threaten his shield. I was completely on the defensive. I judged our mental strengths to be about equal, from what I could feel of his mental bolts. I was pretty sure that I could continue to handle whatever he might throw at me, since the strength of his bolts were only marginally stronger each time. Of course, he could be holding back. My problem was that I didn't have enough time to win a defensive war. At any time someone might contact Mr. Black to check on his progress with me. I didn't know where I was, but it was a safe assumption that someone else was in the vicinity. Mr. Black didn't strike me as the kind of man who would not have some kind of backup nearby.

As far as I knew, persons who had the gift were telepathic only when they were in physical contact with another person. So anyone wanting to contact Mr. Black would phone him (if he was carrying a cellular phone), or come into this room. As I fended off another bolt from Mr. Black, I realized that it was highly unlikely that anyone would try to phone him, since that might interrupt his concentration at a critical moment. Logically anyone else who knew of the gift would realize that mental battle was sure to erupt, and interruptions of any kind were a bad idea. My thoughts were wrenched off track as I felt one of the shields I was draining suddenly shatter like a pane of glass. I turned my head in the direction of Mr. Red.

He was curled on the floor in a fetal position with his hands still pressed to his temples. "Please, no more." he whimpered softly at no one in particular. His eyes were closed and the pain on his face was clearly visible. I modulated my attack from a pounding jackhammer into a smooth soft mental blanket that I draped over his mind. His mind was open and naked before me. I wrapped that blanket about every nook and cranny of Mr. Red's mind. Satisfied that I had his mind completely encased with my mental power, I walked over to where Mr. Red was lying and knelt down beside him. I placed the fingertips of my right hand on his head. I slowly released my power into his mind. I pressed down on his mind and let my mind begin a deep and powerful scan of his mind. I wasn't interested in his knowledge, though. All I wanted to do was locate the core where his will and desires resided. Without any mental barriers or any energy to erect them, he was helpless to resist my probes. I paused for a moment as I thought about the exact commands that I wanted to insert into this man's mind. "You will obey every command and instruction I give you. Each and every time you obey me, you experience profound joy and happiness. Your greatest joy comes from serving and obeying me in all things. My commands override any and all commands given to you by anyone else." I sent these commands into Mr. Red's mind. Then I imagined those commands being burned into his mind, much like a cowboy brands a cow. Surprisingly, it didn't take long for me to feel that happen. I extracted my mind from Mr. Red's knowing that I could safely turn my attention elsewhere. I stood up backed away from Mr. Red, breaking my physical contact with him.

"Mr. Red, please place yourself on your hands and knees and wait for further orders," I said aloud as I looked at Mr. Red lying there.

"Yes, sir," replied Mr. Red. Slowly he climbed up from his fetal position until he was standing on all fours. He raised his head and looked at me. A slight smile graced his face, and he was no longer sobbing. Satisfied that I would not have to deal with him for a while, I turned my attention back to Mr. Black.